New Year, New Music, New Blog

 There's something about Christmas that demands a choir. Like mince pies and mulled wine, choral Christmas music just sounds Right. Which meant The Bradford Chorale had a very busy festive season, with 5 carol singing events and our own Christmas concert. With the amazing City of Bradford Brass Band, the audience's generosity meant we raised a fantastic £4oo for Marie Curie Cancer Care. And, on a personal level, it was the first time I'd heard a brass band play live and was just brilliant.

After a short Christmas break, this Tuesday saw the Chorale ready to face our new pieces, Faure's Requiem, Handel's Messiah and pieces from the book of European Sacred Music, in preparation for our next 2 concerts. The first of which is Handel's Messiah (with added brass band, this time from The Reg Vardy Band) on 31st March at Bradford Cathedral.

The first few rehearsals of any piece are mainly note-bashing, but the Messiah is one of those that many members have sung before, so (as a first-timer) I was surprised at how good it sounded on the first run through. Another surprise was that it's all in English! That'll teach me for not looking at my music before rehearsals, but there we are. No obscure Latin phrasing to try and get my head (and voice) around!

Next week we move from Saltaire Methodist Chapel to our new home at Northcliffe Church. There's loads more room, so if you fancy joining us for Messiah, please look at the website (http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk) for details.